Prayer beads. Some religions use them, some don't. But what's significant about my prayer beads is that they aren't ordinary; they’ve traveled the world, from the Middle East to England Pakistan to the US. 

In the late 1950s, my [maternal] grandfather who had moved to Kuwait with my grandmother after marriage had gone to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage. While there he went to the street bazaar [shops] finding none other than what we call in my language (Urdu) “tasbeeh” [or tasbih]. When he came back to Kuwait he traveled with my mom’s uncle to England, Saudi, did work in Kuwait then eventually went back to Pakistan. Years later, when he died, my grandmother kept it to remember it by, keeping it close to her like a prized possession. After my mother got married, my grandmother gave it to her as she was about to immigrate to America to live with my dad.

Yes this is something deep and close to my family, but it is not only that I have a prized religious possession that is true and important for them. NYC has a strong minority Muslim community, which allows for us all to be connected based on our common traits. Someone’s significant object can be a prayer mat or a piece of cultural clothing. But for me, it's my prayer beads.

– NS

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant